In the present disclosure, the term “lithium batteries” is understood to mean primary cells, lithium metal batteries, lithium ion batteries and lithium polymer batteries, these all being rechargeable.
Lithium batteries have a wide range of uses, in particular in various electronic and microelectronic components. Some advantages of lithium batteries over other primary cells having aqueous electrolytes, such as alkaline batteries or zinc-carbon batteries, or conventional batteries, are higher energy density and a higher specific energy, the high cell voltage, the very long shelf life owing to low levels of self-discharge and the wide temperature range for storage and operation.
Lithium batteries are in demand worldwide, and therefore it needs to be ensured that lithium batteries can be rapidly provided to various places across the world.
One rapid and flexible means of transport for lithium batteries is by aircraft, in particular passenger aircraft.
When transporting lithium batteries by aircraft, the regulations for the transport of dangerous goods by the International Civil Aviation Organisation need to be observed. The provisions of the regulations set out what dangerous goods are permitted to be shipped by air transport, and if they are, what net quantity is not permitted to be exceeded per package. In addition, the dangerous goods must be packaged and transported in accordance with specific guidelines. When transporting lithium batteries, specific declarations, packaging and labelling must be taken into account.
The current regulations do not provide for any fire protection in terms of packaging. Lithium metal batteries have been prohibited from being transported on passenger aircraft since 2015. From 1 Apr. 2016 onwards, the transport of lithium ion batteries on passenger aircraft will also be prohibited due to a lack of protection factors. For the transport of lithium ion batteries, from 1 Apr. 2016 onwards there will also be additional guidelines for freight aircraft.
A possible solution is to use what are known as gel packs, which are laid onto the lithium batteries, meaning that if thermal runaway occurs, the lithium batteries are cooled down by a liquid in the gel pack so that a chain reaction does not occur with adjoining or adjacent cells.